The present invention relates to low-calorie foods and beverages, and more particularly, to intestinal absorption inhibiting agents to be used in low-calorie foods and beverages.
As life becomes luxurious, people tend to ingest more foods and beverages than they need, resulting in a notable increase in obesity. At the present time, where the preference for sweet foods is strong, the amount of intake of carbohydrates is more significant for preventing obesity than that of lipids, and therefore, it is necessary not to ingest excessive sugar, starch and the like.
However, restricting the intake of sweet foods and processed starch foods results in frustration and stress build up.
Taking account of the fact that all carbohydrates are decomposed to glucose and then absorbed through the intestinal tract, if it could be arranged to inhibit absorption of glucose through the intestinal tract, this will result in control of the amount of intake of carbohydrates and enable obesity to be prevented while avoiding frustration.
Research has been undertaken from the above viewpoint and it has been heretofore considered that a certain kind of polysaccharide (as exemplified by dextran) has the effect of controlling the increase in blood glucose level which arises after sugar (sucrose) intake and that a low-calorie food or beverage effective for preventing obesity may be obtained by adding such a polysaccharide to sugar (sucrose) and the like.
However, it has been found that such a polysaccharide does not inhibit absorption of sugar through the intestinal tract and even if this polysaccharide is present, glucose is normally absorbed from the intestinal tract. Thus, it has been found that ingestion of that kind of polysaccharide contributes nothing to reduction of the calorie intake of sugar.
The Food Indication Permission Standard established by the Ministry of Public Welfare of Japan defines "a low-calorie food" as --a food of which calorie intake is less than 50% of that of an ordinary food of the same kind--. Even if the increase in blood glucose level is reduced by 50% from a normal level with use of the polysaccharide, this does not directly lead to reduction of the calorie intake by one half. The reason is that if a hormone (for example, insulin) is secreted in a large amount, the blood glucose level is seemingly reduced.
Accordingly, even if only reduction of the blood glucose level is taken into consideration, a low-calorie food or beverage effective for preventing obesity cannot be provided.